About us
Oyster is a small, friendly company based in rural East Sussex. We’ve been sending gap year travellers abroad for over 10 years, with loads of volunteering and paid placements on offer in 11 different countries.
Two things are really important to us. Firstly, that the projects we work with both want and need our volunteers we’ve been working with many host countries for years and have great relationships with them all. Secondly, we want our ‘gappers’ to be happy, safe, fulfilled - and to come back with a long-term affection for the country they visit.
We feel that we’re different from other gap companies in several ways:
- First class support for participants before departure and abroad
- Placements that have welcomed Oyster participants for years
- Pre-departure courses
- Small groups sent together to placements
- Experienced, caring overseas staff most with us since 2000
- Dedicated UK destination managers for each group
The team
Roger Salwey, Founder and Director
Roger first got involved in 1994 as operations director of a leading school expedition and gap year company. In 1999 he set up on his own, focusing purely on gap year projects, and has since placed around 1000 volunteers (including our own destination manager!).
Jon Arnold, Destination Manager
You could say that Jon never recovered from his gap year. After spending five months in Tanzania in 2004 (we still operate the project) he joined Oyster’s staff, using his experience to develop and expand projects in different destinations with participants’ needs in mind.
Marguerite Weatherseed, Office Manager
Call Oyster and there’s a good chance that you’ll get Marguerite. She works part-time for us in the UK office and – apart from her main role of keeping Roger and Jon under control – keeps on top of the day-to-day running of the office, from brochures to accounts. She also works with Roger on much of the organisation for Australia.
Overseas Representatives
You don’t get anywhere without reliable ground staff. They are the overseas face of the company, acting as our eyes, ears and hearts and providing a real lifeline for participants. We’re really proud of ours: most of them have been with us since the beginning of each project and their warmth, humour and experience is frequently cited by participants as the most crucial element in adjusting to life abroad.
